I, too, congratulate both Irish soccer teams. It is a great achievement for them to reach the final 16 in Euro 2016. I say, "Well done," to everyone concerned - the management, players and their backup support.

I refer to an important Supreme Court decision issued in the past few days as it concerns checks and balances. I advise everyone to read the decision. I refer to a case in which the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, SI No. 551 of 2011, was declared unconstitutional by the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court overturned that decision in the past few days and set out clear guidelines for secondary legislation. It advised that there must be checks and balances. It means that when we delegate powers, we must ensure there are clear boundaries when dealing with legislation. I will refer to the decision because it is relevant to all of us. From now on, when dealing with legislation, we must not delegate too many power and must retain our role in providing for legislative oversight. Were the Oireachtas required to legislate for every aspect of a particular statutory scheme, it would quickly become mired in detail and the task of predicting future developments precisely, as opposed to legislating for existing trends which might change in terms of detail. Instead of continually re-legislating, primary legislation should set boundaries as to what could be provided for in subsidiary legislation.

This would allow subsidiary legislation to be flexible and address future developments. In this way no derogation from the constitutional imperative to exercise the democratic function would be involved. It is suggested we can delegate, but it is important that we retain our right to ensure a matter is kept under the control of the Oireachtas. The judgment is important in that it sets clear boundaries for what we can delegate and how we control the derogation. This highlights the importance of our role and that of Dáil Éireann. Certainly, the Supreme Court has outlined the powers we can delegate to Ministers to ensure statutory instruments do not go beyond the powers delegated to them.